Netai killings: SC pulls up WB govt

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday pulled up
West Bengal government for its failure to submit to it communications between Home Minister P Chidambaram and Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya on the killing of 9 people at
Netai village near Maoist-hit Lalgarh allegedly by CPI-M
members.

"Why have the letters not been filed?" said the bench of
justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly while ordering the state
government to file an affidavit on the issue by tomorrow.
Senior advocate Rajiv Dhavan, appearing for the state
government, said all high court records cannot be submitted
while filing the Special Leave Petition.

The court had on March 1 too rapped the state government
for opposing a CBI probe into the killings.

"It is very unfortunate that West Bengal government can`t
accept the authority of the highest judicial court and the
high court," the bench had remarked while refusing to stay the
Calcutta High Court`s February 18 order for a CBI probe into
the January 7 killings.
The bench had also sought by March 3 all correspondence
between the Home Minister and the Chief Minister on Netai
killings.

Seeking a stay on the state high court order, senior
advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for West Bengal government,
had contended that the order had "political overtones" in it.